West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce says Andy Carroll needs time to re-adjust to the pace of the Premier League.
Carroll made his comeback against Cardiff and then appeared as a substitute again in Saturday's 3-1 home defeat by Newcastle United.
"Andy is going to compete in a game for the first time just a few days after playing on Saturday," he said.
"This is something we are looking forward to in the hope that there are no problems and knowing he is getting even closer to a full 90 minutes.
"Our other scenario, from a defensive point of view, is to continue to try and get Joey O'Brien, Winston Reid and George McCartney back playing as quickly as we can.
"And we also have Ricardo Vaz Te to come back. He has been out for around 12 weeks and people tend to forget about the long-term injury list to people who are very important to our team, and squad.
"So all the players are looking close to returning from injury which is very important for the next 16 Premier League games to come after this."
